Trinity 6 July 24, 2022
Romans 6:1-11
Dead AND Alive?
v.11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Dear friends in Christ, the first several verses of our text from St. Paul's epistle to the Romans may sound very familiar to some of you—especially those who have been to a number of funerals in our church. Those early verses of Romans 6 form an important part of our funeral liturgy in which we thank God that the deceased, as a Baptized child of God, was united to Christ in both His death and resurrection, meaning that the promise of the resurrection is absolutely sure and certain for our dearly departed loved one. "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him."
What good news that is for us, beloved! What great comfort and peace we receive from knowing that as we have been baptized in Christ Jesus, we have become partakers of both His death and resurrection. His death on the cross for the sins of the world has become ours. "For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God." So as a Baptized believer in Jesus—the death that Christ died on the cross has become yours. Your sin has been paid for in full by Jesus—who died on the cross in payment for your sins and the sins of the world.
And yet God has even more gifts to give in Holy Baptism, dear friends. For as Christ has risen from the dead in His glorious resurrection, so also shall all who believe in Him—who have been united to Him by faith in Baptism—be raised from the dead unto life everlasting. This mortal flesh we dwell in shall be raised in glory on the Last Day—and it shall be raised imperishable, perfect, holy, free from sin—free from pain and suffering—as Christ has been resurrected bodily, so too shall all those who believe on His name. "For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His."
Why is all of this important, beloved? Why does it matter? Well, it matters because we need to be reminded of who we are in Christ Jesus—and what He has done for us in our Baptism. We have heard from Moses in Exodus about the pure and holy Law of God that was handed down on Mount Sinai, which we refer to as the Ten Commandments. We have heard Jesus expand upon these commandments in Matthew 5-7 in His Sermon on the Mount, in which He takes the Law of God and ramps it up even higher—showing how even thinking bad thoughts about our neighbor in our head is the same as murdering them in our hearts in God's eyes.
Jesus teaches us this not so that we will sink down into the depths of despair, thinking that there is no way that we could ever be saved, but rather that see how much we need Him and His mercy and love. That no matter how hard we try, we cannot fully keep God's perfect Law, but always fall short. Therefore, God in love has sent His beloved Son, Jesus, to suffer and die on the cross for our sins—so that we may rest assured that there is peace between us and God on account of Christ's blood shed for us.
But just because Jesus has come and suffered and died for our sins, doesn't mean that we are now to give in to every sinful desire or impulse—to embrace sin in all its various forms, thinking, "Well I love to sin and God loves to forgive sin—what a great arrangement!" Beloved, that is not faith speaking, but unbelief.
Hear again what St. Paul writes to the Romans, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."
So you see, beloved, that those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have now died to sin. That is, sin no longer leads us along by the nose. Christ died for sin—and through our Baptism we have died to sin as well, meaning we fight against it—repenting of our sin at all times—and looking to Jesus for forgiveness and mercy. We who have been baptized have not only died to sin, but have been raised from the dead, spiritually speaking (though this will happen in the flesh on the Last Day!). This means we look at God's Law with eyes of faith, recognizing how wise and holy it is—how we ought to strive to live our lives in accordance with it because it is good and good for us and the whole world. We want to walk now as Christians in the newness of life that we have received by God's gracious hand in our Baptism.
This entire section of Romans 6 is there to instruct and comfort us with the good news that we who have been baptized have been set free from sin—for we have died to it—even as Christ our Lord has died. For in Baptism we have been united with Him in His death and resurrection. So now we are free, beloved, free to live and to love as God has first loved us. Free to live our lives in service to God and our neighbor, trusting that because we believe and are baptized, we have already been given forgiveness and everlasting life.
Christians do not revel in their sin—they do not seek out opportunities to go against God's Holy Law and Word, but rather rejoice in every opportunity to keep it and share it with others. We long to share not only God's good Law, but also the saving truth of His Gospel. That Jesus is God's own Son who has come to give His life as a ransom for all people and their sin—and that by believing in Him and His sacrifice for them on the cross they receive the full remission for all their sins, and the gift of everlasting life with Him in the new heavens and the new earth that will be made on the Last Day.
To be sure, beloved, even as Baptized children of God, we still daily struggle with our sinful natures that we have inherited from Adam and Eve. St. Paul takes up that particular subject in great detail in the next chapter of his letter to the Romans. But suffice it to say that because of our continued struggle with sin in this life, we may take great comfort all the more in our Baptism! For when your sin is before your eyes—or the devil whispers into your ears trying to lead you to despair—you can answer with clear confidence and faith—"I am baptized into Christ! His death is mine—as is His life! Sin and death no longer have any hold over me, as they have no hold over Him. I have been washed clean of all sin and death and will live with Him forever in paradise."
Indeed, as our Hymn of the Month puts it so beautifully (LSB 594 st.1 & 5):
God's own child, I gladly say it: I am baptized into Christ!
He, because I could not pay it, Gave my full redemption price.
Do I need earth's treasures many? I have one worth more than any
That brought me salvation free Lasting to eternity!
There is nothing worth comparing To this lifelong comfort sure!
Open-eyed my grave is staring: Even there I'll sleep secure.
Though my flesh awaits its raising, Still my soul continues praising:
I am baptized into Christ; I'm a child of paradise.
Beloved, you are indeed baptized children of God—children of paradise! For you are now dead to sin AND alive to God in Jesus. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Romans 6:1-11
Dead AND Alive?
v.11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Dear friends in Christ, the first several verses of our text from St. Paul's epistle to the Romans may sound very familiar to some of you—especially those who have been to a number of funerals in our church. Those early verses of Romans 6 form an important part of our funeral liturgy in which we thank God that the deceased, as a Baptized child of God, was united to Christ in both His death and resurrection, meaning that the promise of the resurrection is absolutely sure and certain for our dearly departed loved one. "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him."
What good news that is for us, beloved! What great comfort and peace we receive from knowing that as we have been baptized in Christ Jesus, we have become partakers of both His death and resurrection. His death on the cross for the sins of the world has become ours. "For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God." So as a Baptized believer in Jesus—the death that Christ died on the cross has become yours. Your sin has been paid for in full by Jesus—who died on the cross in payment for your sins and the sins of the world.
And yet God has even more gifts to give in Holy Baptism, dear friends. For as Christ has risen from the dead in His glorious resurrection, so also shall all who believe in Him—who have been united to Him by faith in Baptism—be raised from the dead unto life everlasting. This mortal flesh we dwell in shall be raised in glory on the Last Day—and it shall be raised imperishable, perfect, holy, free from sin—free from pain and suffering—as Christ has been resurrected bodily, so too shall all those who believe on His name. "For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His."
Why is all of this important, beloved? Why does it matter? Well, it matters because we need to be reminded of who we are in Christ Jesus—and what He has done for us in our Baptism. We have heard from Moses in Exodus about the pure and holy Law of God that was handed down on Mount Sinai, which we refer to as the Ten Commandments. We have heard Jesus expand upon these commandments in Matthew 5-7 in His Sermon on the Mount, in which He takes the Law of God and ramps it up even higher—showing how even thinking bad thoughts about our neighbor in our head is the same as murdering them in our hearts in God's eyes.
Jesus teaches us this not so that we will sink down into the depths of despair, thinking that there is no way that we could ever be saved, but rather that see how much we need Him and His mercy and love. That no matter how hard we try, we cannot fully keep God's perfect Law, but always fall short. Therefore, God in love has sent His beloved Son, Jesus, to suffer and die on the cross for our sins—so that we may rest assured that there is peace between us and God on account of Christ's blood shed for us.
But just because Jesus has come and suffered and died for our sins, doesn't mean that we are now to give in to every sinful desire or impulse—to embrace sin in all its various forms, thinking, "Well I love to sin and God loves to forgive sin—what a great arrangement!" Beloved, that is not faith speaking, but unbelief.
Hear again what St. Paul writes to the Romans, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."
So you see, beloved, that those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have now died to sin. That is, sin no longer leads us along by the nose. Christ died for sin—and through our Baptism we have died to sin as well, meaning we fight against it—repenting of our sin at all times—and looking to Jesus for forgiveness and mercy. We who have been baptized have not only died to sin, but have been raised from the dead, spiritually speaking (though this will happen in the flesh on the Last Day!). This means we look at God's Law with eyes of faith, recognizing how wise and holy it is—how we ought to strive to live our lives in accordance with it because it is good and good for us and the whole world. We want to walk now as Christians in the newness of life that we have received by God's gracious hand in our Baptism.
This entire section of Romans 6 is there to instruct and comfort us with the good news that we who have been baptized have been set free from sin—for we have died to it—even as Christ our Lord has died. For in Baptism we have been united with Him in His death and resurrection. So now we are free, beloved, free to live and to love as God has first loved us. Free to live our lives in service to God and our neighbor, trusting that because we believe and are baptized, we have already been given forgiveness and everlasting life.
Christians do not revel in their sin—they do not seek out opportunities to go against God's Holy Law and Word, but rather rejoice in every opportunity to keep it and share it with others. We long to share not only God's good Law, but also the saving truth of His Gospel. That Jesus is God's own Son who has come to give His life as a ransom for all people and their sin—and that by believing in Him and His sacrifice for them on the cross they receive the full remission for all their sins, and the gift of everlasting life with Him in the new heavens and the new earth that will be made on the Last Day.
To be sure, beloved, even as Baptized children of God, we still daily struggle with our sinful natures that we have inherited from Adam and Eve. St. Paul takes up that particular subject in great detail in the next chapter of his letter to the Romans. But suffice it to say that because of our continued struggle with sin in this life, we may take great comfort all the more in our Baptism! For when your sin is before your eyes—or the devil whispers into your ears trying to lead you to despair—you can answer with clear confidence and faith—"I am baptized into Christ! His death is mine—as is His life! Sin and death no longer have any hold over me, as they have no hold over Him. I have been washed clean of all sin and death and will live with Him forever in paradise."
Indeed, as our Hymn of the Month puts it so beautifully (LSB 594 st.1 & 5):
God's own child, I gladly say it: I am baptized into Christ!
He, because I could not pay it, Gave my full redemption price.
Do I need earth's treasures many? I have one worth more than any
That brought me salvation free Lasting to eternity!
There is nothing worth comparing To this lifelong comfort sure!
Open-eyed my grave is staring: Even there I'll sleep secure.
Though my flesh awaits its raising, Still my soul continues praising:
I am baptized into Christ; I'm a child of paradise.
Beloved, you are indeed baptized children of God—children of paradise! For you are now dead to sin AND alive to God in Jesus. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.